Inside look at Lembo: Former Elon coach opens up on eventful, emotional offseason

Pete Lembo is heading into his fourth football season at Ball State.

Photo courtesy of Ball State

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 12:59 AM.

The emotions have been many and so too the introspection for even-keeled Ball State football coach Pete Lembo during the last eight months.

There was a hopeful, even coveted opportunity for an Atlantic Coast Conference job that dissolved into a disappointing near-miss.

Where there could be a void and perhaps a sense of abandonment, with trusted assistants leaving and star players moving on, instead has been filled with support for the departed and renewed energy.

And while mindful of another considerable pile of accomplishments that was added last year — plus the buzz that’s attached — if one overriding feeling has surpassed the rest and delivered Lembo, the former Elon coach, to the doorstep of a new season, it’s gratitude.

“If there’s something that I’ve realized since wintertime,” he said, “it’s that I’m as thankful as ever for what I have.”

Which includes a 19-7 record in Ball State’s last two seasons, trips to back-to-back bowls for only the second time in the Cardinals’ 89-year football history, a posh locker room produced by a recently completed renovation project, a future complex for the team that’s under construction — and moreover, a rising star in the business to go along with an additional title (associate athletics director) and new contract ($475,000 salary) that makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the Mid-American Conference.

His 14th season as a college head coach and fourth at Ball State opens Aug. 30 against visiting Colgate, the next chance to further a winning percentage (.658) that’s the best for a football coach at the school since 1967.

Rather than spending that approaching Saturday afternoon on the home sideline in Muncie, Ind., the 44-year-old Lembo, of course, could have been working elsewhere had circumstances unfolded differently in December.

Connecticut approached him then about its head coaching vacancy, the position that eventually went to Bob Diaco, previously the Notre Dame defensive coordinator.

Of substantially more significance was the Wake Forest opening. Athletics director Ron Wellman made Lembo the first interview in the Demon Deacons’ focused search process that lasted barely a week and ultimately hired Dave Clawson away from Bowling Green.

At the time, that was stinging for Lembo.

He and his wife, Jen, still view this area of North Carolina as a home, after he led Elon to what had been unreached and unimagined heights from 2006-10 — high points that contained a national ranking for 33 straight weeks, 124 broken NCAA, league and school records and in 2009, what remains Elon’s only appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Lembo’s ability to thrive in underdog roles, proven reputation as a CEO of rebuilds — Ball State went 6-18 before he came onboard while Elon was in a 14-42 funk — and background at smaller private universities with high academic requirements seemingly made him a tailored fit for Wake Forest.

Clawson, a peer in the MAC and friend in the coaching industry of some 20 years, was introduced at Wake Forest four days after his Bowling Green team had captured a moment by defeating unbeaten and nationally ranked Northern Illinois in the MAC championship game.

“Is it disappointing when a potential opportunity that might change your life presents itself and you think you have a chance and it doesn’t happen?” Lembo said. “Yeah, sure, we’re all human.

“But that doesn’t veer you off course from what your mission is, to make Ball State as good as you can make it and to invest everything you have into that. I don’t think that’s changed at all. If anything, I think going through that experience has made me appreciate what I have more than ever.”

Lembo never has enjoyed public discussions of jobs that have been linked to or suited for him, whether Richmond’s pursuit when he was at Elon or the interest from Boston College, Purdue, Wake Forest and Connecticut that has been generated at Ball State.

But he’s candid in divulging that the Wake Forest letdown pushed him toward self-evaluation and reflection that since have given way to reconciliation.

“It forces you to go back and take a look at some of the things you’re doing in a really healthy kind of way,” he said. “For as much of the this-and-thats we might have dealt with in December and January, it’s been a great spring and a great summer and some of the new faces (at Ball State) have re-energized me.

“This is a special deal, what we do. I’m one of 128 guys that have the opportunity that I have. And I think one thing that’s happened through the years, I’ve become, in a modest kind of way, more and more confident in what we do and how we do it.”

The courses of several programs likely would have been altered had Wake Forest opted for Lembo and he ended up in Winston-Salem.

Rich Skrosky and Jay Bateman, respected lieutenants of his coaching staffs since his first year at Elon in 2006, almost certainly would have joined him in the move to the ACC.

Instead, they headed in divergent directions.

Skrosky left his post as Ball State offensive coordinator to return to Elon and take the head-coaching reins. Bateman, who also was in the running for the Elon job, later became the defensive coordinator on the newly formed staff at Army.

“It’s difficult when you lose two guys you completely trust,” Lembo said, “that you think the world of, that you have longstanding, meaningful relationships with. But at the same time, you know nothing ever lasts forever and you always have to be keeping in mind that things are going to change eventually.

“What doesn’t change is the program and the mindset of the program. At some point you look back and say we have a track record, and that track record has overcome a lot of change through the years.”

Bateman had been with Lembo the longest, coordinating the defenses for his teams and handling the in-game calls on that side of the ball for eight years, all the while with a trademark towel perpetually draped on his shoulder.

Theirs is a pairing that dates back 17 years to grind-it-out days and nights together as lower-rung assistants in Division III at Hampden-Sydney.

Lembo’s reaction was selfless and direct when Bateman walked into his office and informed him that new Army coach Jeff Monken, formerly of Georgia Southern, had offered more than double his salary at Ball State (which was $126,500) plus additional perks.

“I said, ‘Go pack your stuff up,’ and he knew exactly what I meant by that,” Lembo said. “Our relationship is a great one, probably as close of a relationship with any coach I’ve ever had through the years. I consider him a dear, dear friend. So I owe it to him to support him to make that move.

“Army has made a very serious commitment to that program. Is it a move to an SEC job or an ACC job? No, but financially for the Bateman family it was a no-brainer. That’s the reality of it.”

They will reunite on the same field Oct. 4, when Ball State travels to play Army.

Ball State, behind Lembo, Skrosky, Bateman and Co., has beaten Army each of the last three seasons.

Promoting Joey Lynch, a 30-year-old assistant who Skrosky groomed, to offensive coordinator and bringing in the veteran Kevin Kelly, the former Georgetown coach with whom Lembo holds a long association, as defensive coordinator has fostered a smooth changeover at Ball State.

Lembo sees a bright offensive mind in Lynch, who will benefit from assistant coach John Strollo’s return after two seasons at Penn State. When Strollo worked under Lembo at Elon, many considered him to be a behind-the-scenes guru of sorts.

Kelly figures to provide a source of unflappable experience with 31 years logged in college coaching. He often has been a valued sounding board on defensive concepts for Lembo and Bateman through the years.

“I feel really good about the transition here,” Lembo said. “Now with Rich gone, maybe I’ve got to be a little more hands-on with the offense because I’ve got a younger offensive coordinator. That’s just all part of how you keep evolving.

“It never stays the same. You have to accept that from the get-go and keep moving. So you’re always thinking about what your plan will be if and when it happens.”

Meanwhile, there’s the matter of replacing quarterback Keith Wenning, Ball State’s all-time leading passer, and Willie Snead, who ranked third nationally last season with 1,516 receiving yards. Wenning was a sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens. Snead is in training camp with the Cleveland Browns.

It’s a changing of the guard and testing of the infrastructure that’s all part of the building process for Lembo, he of the refreshed appreciation and often limitless perspective, who is serious when he says that preparations for times like this stretch all the way back to Dec. 19, 2010, his first day at Ball State.

“There’s definitely some big holes to fill,” he said, “but you have this core of the team that has been under your umbrella for three years now. So you’re now at a point where you feel like you’ve reached that critical mass. That you can deal with some change, because the core is strong, because they believe in the system and have come of age in the system.

“One thing about the way we build programs is when we get to Year 3 or Year 4, that’s when it really starts becoming fun, because that culture is in place. I’m excited about this season, excited about our culture, excited about our work ethic, excited about the kids that we have. I’m not worried about what we don’t have.”

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The emotions have been many and so too the introspection for even-keeled Ball State football coach Pete Lembo during the last eight months.

There was a hopeful, even coveted opportunity for an Atlantic Coast Conference job that dissolved into a disappointing near-miss.

Where there could be a void and perhaps a sense of abandonment, with trusted assistants leaving and star players moving on, instead has been filled with support for the departed and renewed energy.

And while mindful of another considerable pile of accomplishments that was added last year — plus the buzz that’s attached — if one overriding feeling has surpassed the rest and delivered Lembo, the former Elon coach, to the doorstep of a new season, it’s gratitude.

“If there’s something that I’ve realized since wintertime,” he said, “it’s that I’m as thankful as ever for what I have.”

Which includes a 19-7 record in Ball State’s last two seasons, trips to back-to-back bowls for only the second time in the Cardinals’ 89-year football history, a posh locker room produced by a recently completed renovation project, a future complex for the team that’s under construction — and moreover, a rising star in the business to go along with an additional title (associate athletics director) and new contract ($475,000 salary) that makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the Mid-American Conference.

His 14th season as a college head coach and fourth at Ball State opens Aug. 30 against visiting Colgate, the next chance to further a winning percentage (.658) that’s the best for a football coach at the school since 1967.

Rather than spending that approaching Saturday afternoon on the home sideline in Muncie, Ind., the 44-year-old Lembo, of course, could have been working elsewhere had circumstances unfolded differently in December.

Connecticut approached him then about its head coaching vacancy, the position that eventually went to Bob Diaco, previously the Notre Dame defensive coordinator.

Of substantially more significance was the Wake Forest opening. Athletics director Ron Wellman made Lembo the first interview in the Demon Deacons’ focused search process that lasted barely a week and ultimately hired Dave Clawson away from Bowling Green.

At the time, that was stinging for Lembo.

He and his wife, Jen, still view this area of North Carolina as a home, after he led Elon to what had been unreached and unimagined heights from 2006-10 — high points that contained a national ranking for 33 straight weeks, 124 broken NCAA, league and school records and in 2009, what remains Elon’s only appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Lembo’s ability to thrive in underdog roles, proven reputation as a CEO of rebuilds — Ball State went 6-18 before he came onboard while Elon was in a 14-42 funk — and background at smaller private universities with high academic requirements seemingly made him a tailored fit for Wake Forest.

Clawson, a peer in the MAC and friend in the coaching industry of some 20 years, was introduced at Wake Forest four days after his Bowling Green team had captured a moment by defeating unbeaten and nationally ranked Northern Illinois in the MAC championship game.

“Is it disappointing when a potential opportunity that might change your life presents itself and you think you have a chance and it doesn’t happen?” Lembo said. “Yeah, sure, we’re all human.

“But that doesn’t veer you off course from what your mission is, to make Ball State as good as you can make it and to invest everything you have into that. I don’t think that’s changed at all. If anything, I think going through that experience has made me appreciate what I have more than ever.”

Lembo never has enjoyed public discussions of jobs that have been linked to or suited for him, whether Richmond’s pursuit when he was at Elon or the interest from Boston College, Purdue, Wake Forest and Connecticut that has been generated at Ball State.

But he’s candid in divulging that the Wake Forest letdown pushed him toward self-evaluation and reflection that since have given way to reconciliation.

“It forces you to go back and take a look at some of the things you’re doing in a really healthy kind of way,” he said. “For as much of the this-and-thats we might have dealt with in December and January, it’s been a great spring and a great summer and some of the new faces (at Ball State) have re-energized me.

“This is a special deal, what we do. I’m one of 128 guys that have the opportunity that I have. And I think one thing that’s happened through the years, I’ve become, in a modest kind of way, more and more confident in what we do and how we do it.”

The courses of several programs likely would have been altered had Wake Forest opted for Lembo and he ended up in Winston-Salem.

Rich Skrosky and Jay Bateman, respected lieutenants of his coaching staffs since his first year at Elon in 2006, almost certainly would have joined him in the move to the ACC.

Instead, they headed in divergent directions.

Skrosky left his post as Ball State offensive coordinator to return to Elon and take the head-coaching reins. Bateman, who also was in the running for the Elon job, later became the defensive coordinator on the newly formed staff at Army.

“It’s difficult when you lose two guys you completely trust,” Lembo said, “that you think the world of, that you have longstanding, meaningful relationships with. But at the same time, you know nothing ever lasts forever and you always have to be keeping in mind that things are going to change eventually.

“What doesn’t change is the program and the mindset of the program. At some point you look back and say we have a track record, and that track record has overcome a lot of change through the years.”

Bateman had been with Lembo the longest, coordinating the defenses for his teams and handling the in-game calls on that side of the ball for eight years, all the while with a trademark towel perpetually draped on his shoulder.

Theirs is a pairing that dates back 17 years to grind-it-out days and nights together as lower-rung assistants in Division III at Hampden-Sydney.

Lembo’s reaction was selfless and direct when Bateman walked into his office and informed him that new Army coach Jeff Monken, formerly of Georgia Southern, had offered more than double his salary at Ball State (which was $126,500) plus additional perks.

“I said, ‘Go pack your stuff up,’ and he knew exactly what I meant by that,” Lembo said. “Our relationship is a great one, probably as close of a relationship with any coach I’ve ever had through the years. I consider him a dear, dear friend. So I owe it to him to support him to make that move.

“Army has made a very serious commitment to that program. Is it a move to an SEC job or an ACC job? No, but financially for the Bateman family it was a no-brainer. That’s the reality of it.”

They will reunite on the same field Oct. 4, when Ball State travels to play Army.

Ball State, behind Lembo, Skrosky, Bateman and Co., has beaten Army each of the last three seasons.

Promoting Joey Lynch, a 30-year-old assistant who Skrosky groomed, to offensive coordinator and bringing in the veteran Kevin Kelly, the former Georgetown coach with whom Lembo holds a long association, as defensive coordinator has fostered a smooth changeover at Ball State.

Lembo sees a bright offensive mind in Lynch, who will benefit from assistant coach John Strollo’s return after two seasons at Penn State. When Strollo worked under Lembo at Elon, many considered him to be a behind-the-scenes guru of sorts.

Kelly figures to provide a source of unflappable experience with 31 years logged in college coaching. He often has been a valued sounding board on defensive concepts for Lembo and Bateman through the years.

“I feel really good about the transition here,” Lembo said. “Now with Rich gone, maybe I’ve got to be a little more hands-on with the offense because I’ve got a younger offensive coordinator. That’s just all part of how you keep evolving.

“It never stays the same. You have to accept that from the get-go and keep moving. So you’re always thinking about what your plan will be if and when it happens.”

Meanwhile, there’s the matter of replacing quarterback Keith Wenning, Ball State’s all-time leading passer, and Willie Snead, who ranked third nationally last season with 1,516 receiving yards. Wenning was a sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens. Snead is in training camp with the Cleveland Browns.

It’s a changing of the guard and testing of the infrastructure that’s all part of the building process for Lembo, he of the refreshed appreciation and often limitless perspective, who is serious when he says that preparations for times like this stretch all the way back to Dec. 19, 2010, his first day at Ball State.

“There’s definitely some big holes to fill,” he said, “but you have this core of the team that has been under your umbrella for three years now. So you’re now at a point where you feel like you’ve reached that critical mass. That you can deal with some change, because the core is strong, because they believe in the system and have come of age in the system.

“One thing about the way we build programs is when we get to Year 3 or Year 4, that’s when it really starts becoming fun, because that culture is in place. I’m excited about this season, excited about our culture, excited about our work ethic, excited about the kids that we have. I’m not worried about what we don’t have.”